Is there an applying for 2023 thread which isn’t early entry

[KittyMcKitty]

I can see there’s the Oxbridge one but dd isn’t an early entry applicant.

anyway she’s finally submitted her UCAS I know school have added the reference so imagine it’ll be off in a day or so 🤞🏻

Shes applying for sociology and has applied to:
Durham
York
Lancaster
Sheffield
Birmingham

her predicted grades comfortably exceed all the standard offers so I hope she gets some offers (and please please please let Durham offer!!).

anyone else waiting?

selok you’re absolutely right there's very few apprenticeships in neuroscience/chemistry. I think AstraZeneca may offer a couple but that’ll be Cambridge (or Alderley I guess) and lab based. Again I think if they do it’s 2 apprentices a year. I think I recall seeing one (again 1/2 places) at a lab in Surrey but forget the company. If she’s undecided re Chem v neuro then she’d be better doing a degree anyway. Apprenticeships can be a bit narrowing and you need to make sure they do include a degree as some just say ‘training’ and turn out to be equiv to A levels or GCSEs.

We did a couple of open days and are narrowing down based on required grades and whether he fancies the town. I wish he would look at the course content in detail but he is 17 and won’t listen.

ah that’s a shame @SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun as he may end up on a course that he doesn’t enjoy. Some of the courses are very maths based some less so. This could be a consideration if he’s not particularly mathsy or vice versa.

Anyone visited York?

@NotDonna weve visited York twice - last summer and then again on the way back from Durham in September.

@KittyMcKitty any thoughts please?

@NotDonna We visited York too and DD loved it and it has made it onto 5 choices. She loved the Campus, though some of the accommodation in the old part looked a bit dated but the new side was great. Her course sounded great and the whole place had a lovely feel. Only downsides were it is a long way from home, York is a very busy tourist town and the price of 2nd year accommodation because of this.

Dd really liked it it’s probably her 2nd choice after Durham. A few of ds’s friends went there and are v happy.

it’s obv campus uni but only a couple of miles from York city centre. There are 2 campus’ east and west. The main one is the one you see in pics around the lake with the beautiful brutalist Buildings (I’m a big fan). The other is about 10-15 mins walk away and a much newer big glass type of place also with a lake. The new campus (is that east I never remember which is which) felt very quiet and much less buzzy but we’ve not seen it with students there. All the new accommodation is v nice. Some subjects are based at new campus - sociology law deama computer science I think and I’m sure more will move there.

dd is applying for sociology and wondered if it may be a bit isolating to live and study on the new campus so would probably look to live at the main one.

anything specific you’d like to know?

@NotDonna ive just seen your dd is looking at Birmingham too. A lot of people from ds’s school went there (now 2nd years) and have all really enjoyed it.

we’ve been to the open days and the campus is great and the accommodation village was 10 mins walk away and even the cheapest supposedly grotty accommodation was way way nicer then ds’s I’m Manchester 😂. Dd really liked it - unfortunately for the subject she’s looking to do it was very underwhelming but that could just be down to the person giving the talk whose opening line was “I’m not here to sell the course to you” um yes! That’s exactly why you’re here! Also whilst rankings aren’t everything for sociology it was lower then the others. We were so disappointed by the subject talk as up until then she liked it more then York.

Thank you @hellypad and @KittyMcKitty I don’t suppose any of your DC’s friends are studying Business/Management at either York or Birmingham and have an opinion?
Interesting what you say about the sociology talk at Birmingham kitty we had the same experience with Business at Lancaster, pretty much word for word. In fact he said a few times he wasn’t going to ‘sell the courses/uni’. It came across as a bit laissez-faire for me. DD liked it but they’ve increased their typical offer for the sandwich course, which now matches all her other choices. It’s also a crazy long way!
With York, I’m guessing accom can be in either block and not match where the course is mostly conducted? We need to look a lot more closely at York Uni in general but the course very much appeals. It’s so hard narrowing them down to 5!

Actually my ds has a friend in his 2nd year at Birmingham doing business and he loves it - it was his first choice.

York yes accommodation can be either but they have a rubbish way of allocating- basically first come first served from way before results day - so if you end up there on insurance they do not guarantee accommodation! They had a problem 2 yrs ago and shipped students to Hull but have since built 2 big new halls. York accommodation is quite pricey.

what is it with people giving talks - literally their job in that context is to sell their course / Uni!

Ds has friends at York doing business if the creative industries and they are v happy.

Also just remembered re York accommodation most of the halls at the main campus are catered and at the other one self catered - there’s one up by the library which is sc.

Dd also keen on Lancaster- it’s v good for sociology- yes a looooong way! (We’re in Bucks) - ds is at Manchester and with dd applying to Durham, York, Lancaster, Sheffield and Birmingham I’m clearly destined for spending hours driving their stuff up the motorway!

Not really relevant to the OP, but others might see this thread: there's a really supportive and interesting thread for those applying for Art/Design courses (which never get covered on the 'academic' threads!)

www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4626697-2023-uni-applications-for-those-pursuing-art-and-creative-routes

Dd also keen on Lancaster- it’s v good for sociology- yes a looooong way! (We’re in Bucks) - ds is at Manchester and with dd applying to Durham, York, Lancaster, Sheffield and Birmingham I’m clearly destined for spending hours driving their stuff up the motorway!

We're also in Herts/Bucks and my son has just started at Durham so I share your pain. Mercifully the train service from London is good for a visit (once the stuff has been dropped).

My only comment would be that Durham was very late to offer non-contextual/international applicants last year - from memory it was February half-term. Just as we were on the train on the way back from my son feeling he needed to visit Exeter - again!

There's also been a bit of a housing crisis in Durham this year (for rentals next year), with weekly rents of £160 to 210 per person per week and students camping through the night outside the estate agents waiting for the next release of properties. It's been a bit mad for the freshers who had only been there for a few weeks at that point.

Thank you @red4321 yes she’s seen all about the housing problems on TikTok. I’ve prepared her for the wait for Durham and we have everything crossed - the course / Uni / town is everything she is looking for. What is your ds studying?

Politics. He's seemingly doing a lot of hockey and socialising but rather less work...

Haha ds is doing politics and philosophy at Manchester and has essays due next week so has been spending a few long days in the library!

which college is your son at?

Collingwood. (Wasn't overly impressed by Aidans where my husband and I met, no loyalty). I think a few people ended up being reallocated their college this year, after the initial allocation. Presumably due to accommodation issues (as 2021 was a number intake).

*bumper

@KittyMcKitty @NotDonna My other DS is at Lancaster now - but not doing business, so I can offer info on the uni in general but not the course. He's very happy there and it's a great campus. But we are not so far away - so very appealing for me and the driving!

DD2 has just visited some unis and is certain she wants a city one, not a campus style one. So she wasn't keen on Warwick or York (which DD1 was v happy living on campus for 3 years and has just finished her History degree there) and preferred Leeds and Cardiff so far.

Not sure she's going to find 5 she likes the look of, but she already has her top 2 and her AS levels were more than good enough to justify applying for any of the places.

She had no interest in applying for Oxbridge.

@RainBow725 thank you. Having them not too far away is a bonus! It took us 9.5hrs to reach Lancaster for the open day and that was even without a wee stop!! The trains weren’t an option due to strikes and cancellations. DD really liked it despite it being rather grey and drizzly and was firmly on her 5 but they’ve upped the grade requirements for the 4 year courses (which wasn’t mentioned at the open day despite her chatting away to the course leader about a year in industry. Nor on the booklets handed out). She only noticed a couple of days ago. She’s emailed them asking if website correct as it is rather odd that it wasn’t highlighted. So it’s no longer an insurance unless she does the 3 year option, which isn’t her preferred. Hence the sudden interest in York.

@DrMadelineMaxwell likes the look of in terms of the course modules or the uni itself? It is interesting how they all approach this differently isn’t it? with some focussing on the location, facilities, the course itself or the feeling. It’s not easy deciding where you want to be for 3-4 years. How come she did AS levels? Other than Further Maths they’ve been discontinued as A levels linear now.

That isn’t entirely right, it depends on the course and exam board.. Geography AS level sat a week or so ago at DSs school.

I did that degree at Lancaster (some time ago). The grade requirements will just be because it’s a very highly rated course and far more people are putting lancaster down now even though it isn’t RG so it’s simple supply and demand. If it keeps on being as popular the grades required will probably keep going up.

in my day everyone said they wanted the sandwich course. When it came to it most dropped back to the three year course since they wanted to stay as third years with their mates. Hardly anyone did the placement year. Might be different now of course